HCI Press Releases

HCI and University of North Carolina Explore Strategies to Enhance Leadership Development

New Research Highlights the Methods Used by Top-performing Organizations to Accelerate the Development of Their Leaders

Author: HCI |
Source: HCI |
Published: April 30, 2014

NEW YORK (April 30, 2014) – The Human Capital Institute (HCI), the global institution for strategic talent management, today announced the release of its latest research, “How to Accelerate Leadership Development,” conducted in conjunction with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Kenan-Flagler Business School. As baby boomers continue to retire in large numbers, the research highlights why organizations must identify and utilize the proven methods for ensuring the next generation of leaders receive the proper training and development to be successful.

In addition to the current shortage of qualified talent with the skills, knowledge and experience to become senior leaders, organizations are often met with another difficulty. As the pace of change in the knowledge economy continues to increase rapidly, and the global leadership learning curve becomes longer, there is a pressing need to accelerate the development of leaders. To achieve this, companies must be able to identify the factors that can impede leadership development, such as budget constraints or insufficient resources, as well as the best practices for providing their younger talent with the competencies to be effective leaders.

“Businesses today must be able to leverage the methods that enable them to operate efficiently, maintain competitive advantage and prepare to face the changes and challenges of the future,” said Kip Kelly, director of Marketing and Business Development for the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. “By developing a comprehensive leadership development plan to groom their top performers, employers can build a strong talent pipeline of leaders ready to take their business to the next level.”

The research report is based on a survey of nearly 400 HR and training and development professionals designed to uncover their current leadership development challenges and opportunities. In addition, HCI conducted in-depth interviews with several experts on the topic of leadership development for further insight on best practices for improvement. Based on these surveys and interviews, the research reveals several key findings:

Companies recognize the need for action: Overall, 85 percent of respondents agree that there is an urgent need to accelerate the development of their leaders. In addition, a majority of senior leaders are not satisfied with their current bench strength and are concerned that their high-potentials are unable to meet future business needs.

Biggest challenges impacting leadership development: Only 23 percent of respondents agree that their learning and development budgets meet their current needs, with the biggest difficulties being the time involved, budget sizes and the need to encourage managers to develop their employees.

Signs of change: Despite the bleak landscape, the majority of organizations plan to increase leadership development activities within the next five years. The development methods expected to see the highest growth include mentoring programs, greater exposure to senior executives and increasing attendance at industry conferences and tradeshows.

A fully integrated approach to development: Organizations that effectively develop leaders faster and report more leadership-ready employees state that their development activities are fully integrated with their business strategies.

“Although our research found that organizations have significant room for improvement in regard to leadership development, we are happy to see that the majority recognize the need to enhance their processes,” said Carl Rhodes, HCI’s chief executive officer. “The organizations that drive support from senior leaders, include a formal learning and development structure and keep learners accountable for their development will be best suited for accelerating the growth of their future leaders.”

HCI and the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School will present the findings from their research in an upcoming webinar, titled “Accelerate Leadership Development,” on Thursday, May 15, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Participants of the webinar will receive a complimentary copy of the report. Additional information and registration details can be accessed at: http://www.hci.org/lib/accelerate-leadership-development.

About UNC Executive Development

For over fifty years, UNC Executive Development has partnered with organizations to create customized executive development programs to answer their business challenges. As a part of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC Executive Development brings the school's experience, reputation, and noted faculty to these challenging and impactful programs. In 2013, the Financial Times ranked UNC Executive Development No. 8 overall in the world and No. 4 in the United States for its customized executive development programs designed to help organizations address these challenges. UNC Executive Development also ranked highly in many individual categories, notably as No. 2 in the world and No. 1 in the United States for value. Visit UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s website for more information about the school and the university - See more at: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/executive-development/about

About Human Capital Institute (HCI)

HCI is the global association for strategic talent management and new economy leadership, and a clearinghouse for best practices and new ideas. Our network of expert practitioners, Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 corporations, government agencies, global consultants and business schools contribute a stream of constantly evolving information, the best of which is organized, analyzed and shared with members through HCI communities, research, education and events. For more information, please visit www.hci.org.